I heard on the news this past week that Sears is struggling and may go out of business. My first machine was a Kenmore and I loved it. It is long gone now but I used it to death making clothes for my little ones and my hubby and anyone else that I could. And we still go to Sears for tools. My DH loves Sears tools. If a screwdriver breaks or gets messed up, he just takes it back to Sears and they replace it for free. You can't beat that. This new generation likes to replace everything on a whim and I guess that's what fuels the economy but I can't throw away money like that. I guess it's why I buy more of the vintage machines, furniture, etc.... that stuff lasts!!

I worked at Sears in 1969 - 1970, at that time they sold material, lots of it, lots of sewing machines, and I bought my first sewing machine there. Got rid of it when I bought my Elna in the mid 90's. What a mistake that was. they don't make machines like that anymore. It was heavy, made of metal and sewed anything. Boy, wish I still had that machine. If I ever find one again, it's coming home with me!!!

I had to smile as I pictured you on the floor, cat crawling on you and suddenly becoming distracted by how the sewing machine table was constructed! You are just like my hubby. I can look at something and just see it is held together by screws, but hubby points out details such as the angle of the screws, the type of washer used, the way the wood was cut, etc. etc. etc. People with mechanical minds like you and my hubby just blow me away with the details you are able to see! But you guys are mighty handy when it comes to getting the old machines up and running!
I agree that quality seems to have disappeared over the past 30 years. Sad - we should be making the best products in the world!
My first sewing machine was a Kenmore, purchased at Sears. I stupidly gave it away when I bought my first "modern" machine. Wish I had it back. We even owned a Sears house for a while. It was an arts and craft bungalow built in 1921. I can't remember the Sears house # of the plan - Sears used to have a catalog where you could pick out your house plan and order the lumber, etc. needed to build it! Wish I had that house back, too!

Linda There may be times we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest. - Elie Wiesel

Oh, my. . . I don't think kids of yesteryear could have lived without Sears! That's where our clothes came from. Remember "ToughSkin" jeans for boys?? All of our appliances came from Sears and were Kenmores. Back in the 80's when the microwaves were becoming popular, my dad took me and my brother to Sears with him to buy one. (My mother passed away in the early 80's and dad really thought the microwave would be beneficial in cooking!) My dad picked out a middle of the line Kenmore microwave, and it was over $400! and put it on his Sears card and we hauled it home. It was HUGE!!! You could put a 9 X 13 casserole dish in it. That microwave lasted 22 years!!! Now they have a life span of 1-2 years.

I learned to sew on a Sears Kenmore sewing machine. Earlier this year, I found the exact same model in a table at Goodwill and paid $10 for it. When I sew on it, it takes me back to a different time, when life was so much simplier.

No one has ever become poor by giving. - Anne Frank
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. - Martin Luther King, Jr.

I am really getting nostalgic reading all the above threads.....I too remember many of those things.......but they are gone forever....we live in a throw away world now all made of plastic-isn't that a byproduct of petroleum, hmmmm. There are no artisans who could work with wood to do those beautiful carvings....and the saddest thing is no one really misses it or it would all come back..........we just keep buying things made in China.........

Amusing mental picture here of you down on the floor with your quilt inspectors hovering around and on you. All I find under my cabinets is billows of accumulated dog and cat hair that has wafted down and under. And I vacuum every day. Somewhere in this house is another dog and cat that is invisible cause they have lost all of their hair. I can still see the current residents of the couch and chair and they still have full hair coats.

The 80s are gone forever along with quality. Perhaps that is why we all love our vintage sewing machines and cabinets, they were built to outlast us. Now things have a current life of, at the most, five years. I am currently working on an 1893 Singer treadle cabinet in which to put my 306. It has lasted 120 years. If it had been made of that particle board stuff it would not be here.

I remember as a child our Sears catalog was so worn and torn from use by the time we got our new one. Just about everything came from catalogs when you lived in the country. As a child I lived for the Christmas catalog to get there and would spend hours dreaming over it. For me those were a good time. Yes, the world has changed and the life of the junk they sell today is short.

Reading all the above, and agree with most of the comments....but am also thankful for many of the things that we have in our world today. Just look at the member above who was able to have 3 knee replacements in one year.